Jade

01. Nightbus - Passenger 02. ROSALÍA - LUX 03. Oklou - choke enough 04. Dave - The Boy Who Played the Harp 05. FKA twigs - EUSEXUA Afterglow 06. Night Tapes - portals//polarities 07. PinkPantheress - Fancy Some More? 08. Addison Rae - Addison 09. Model/Actriz - Pirouette 10. Pearly Drops - The Voices Are Coming Back

TOP 100 SONGS: 40-31 40. ROSALÍA - Porcelana (feat. Dougie F) | 265 points (peak: #1) 39. Nilüfer Yanya - Kneel | 266 points 38. The Marías - Back To Me | 270 points 37. Zara Larsson - Midnight Sun | 277 points 36. FKA twigs - Room of Fools | 285 points 35. Sidewalks and Skeletons & CASHFORGOLD - Dissolve | 291 points 34. Mount Palomar & Makeshift Art Bar - Pass The Parcel | 294 points 33. PinkPantheress - Tonight | 303 points 32. Nilüfer Yanya - Cold Heart | 305 points (peak: #4) 31. The Horrors - The Silence That Remains | 305 points (peak: #1) I was lucky enough to hear ROSALÍA's fourth studio album LUX a day early as my CD arrived in the post in advance of the release date. It is times like these when I'm glad I still own a CD player that plugs into my laptop. Don't worry, I only imported the tracks into my own iTunes to spam rather than distributing them anywhere. 'Porcelana' immediately grabbed me with its discordance, hand claps and choral elements. ROSALÍA once again taps into a multilingual world as this track even includes a Japanese verse. This artistic choice made sense as soon as I learnt that 'Porcelana' was inspired by 17th century Japanese nun, Ryōnen Gensō. She was deemed too beautiful to be a nun, serving as a distraction, but was so intent on becoming one that she burnt her face with an iron to eliminate that perceived attractiveness... consequently being accepted. This shocking tale is incorporated in the lyrics, about beauty and sacrifice, on top of further spiritual themes. A fair amount of light imagery is used, including the "I am nothing, I am the light of the world" chorus, plus a nod to kintsugi early on - nicely tying in with the overall Japanese themes, plus linking her to Addison Rae earlier in the countdown who was also inspired by this practice on her own 'In The Rain'. The male feature Dougie F was initially uncredited, with online speculation that he could be Frank Ocean or Travis Scott. Alas, not even ROSALÍA can end the drought of Frank Ocean releases, so the wait continues. British artist Nilüfer Yanya followed up 2024's brilliant My Method Actor album with last year's Dancing Shoes EP. 'Kneel' is the opening track on this project. She explained in an interview with NME that the song is about "committing yourself to something or somebody and feeling like you're surrendering". My favourite line in this song is the evocative "we're healing when nothing is spoken" during the chorus, the idea that there is still power in presence. Nilüfer contributes an equally vulnerable vocal performance and the production is wonderfully textured. 'Kneel' interestingly opens with a tambourine, alongside the guitar, bass and drum sounds. Eerie synths also work their way in. This song concludes on a powerful solely instrumental final minute, with distorted guitars and soaring strings. The Marías achieved their first weekly #1 in my personal chart with 'Back To Me'. This song is a direct continuation from their second studio album, Submarine. That record explored the fresh wounds of a break-up, but some time has passed on standalone single 'Back To Me', as lead singer María Zardoya now reflects on the aftermath of the heartbreak. She is still in love with this former partner but has to deal with them moving on to someone new. Her ever-stunning vocals are backed by dreamy bedroom pop sounds, plus shoegaze elements, producing an atmospheric effect. It appears Ariana Grande wasn't the only one recently inspired by the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in her music, as the line "meet me in Montauk" in 'Back To Me' appears to reference it - which I of course approve of. 'Midnight Sun' by Zara Larsson initially went over my head when I first checked it out last June. However, fast-forward to September and it suddenly clicked while I heard it on holiday in Spain. That break wasn't the escapism I'd hoped for, with unexpected drama arising, so this song turned into an uplifting tonic for me. Larsson was inspired by her Swedish roots for 'Midnight Sun', writing about their 24 hours of daylight in summer, alongside Helena Gao and familiar collaborator MNEK - who is also credited on production duties, creating a drum and bass whirlwind. I particularly enjoy the added breakbeats. Zara perfectly sells the youthful, freeing nature of this song with an impressive vocal performance and commanding presence in the video. I adore the colourful aesthetics of those visuals, which particularly stand out in today's minimalistic landscape. The moodboard is very 2000s throwback, especially with a bejewelled phone and portable CD player serving as props. One of my 2026 musical predictions was 'Midnight Sun' taking off, on the back of Zara's recent TikTok virality and... this has actually come into fruition?! It is now a top 75 hit so fingers crossed for top 40 soon. Apologies for posting a whole section without an FKA twigs mention, but order is now restored, as Eusexua album track 'Room of Fools' has placed at #36. This song is a love letter to the dancefloor, as twigs has previously mentioned that going to raves was a transformative experience, saving her. However, the more negative word "fools" also acknowledges humanity ignoring important issues while they escape. The production is heavenly, with a techno meets '90s trance feel to it. FKA twigs offers a layered vocal performance as ever, with a mix of lower register attack, plus euphoric high notes. Like '24hr Dog' earlier, I hear a heavy Björk influence here and can also see where people are coming from with Kate Bush comparisons. 'Room of Fools' concludes on a memorable note, with backwards vocals. Sidewalks and Skeletons is the artist who first alerted me to witch house music, after discovering the BuzzJack Song Contest entry 'Exhume', so he will always have a special place in my heart as I am a big fan of the micro-genre. He's still making great music even now and often collaborates with CASHFORGOLD, who provides a muffled yet ethereal vocal performance on 'Dissolve'. The lyrics appear regretful and longing, as she claustrophobically discusses not being able to escape "the fire" and is dreaming of a past life. Sidewalks and Skeletons backs this up with usual witchy flair but also thumping electro clash-style synths, a dream combination for me. The music video fits the mood well, including a dark motorbike ride, plus the occasional pink hue to match the single cover. Electronic producer Mount Palomar had a brilliant 2025 in my personal chart - featuring there four times alongside collaborators Naomi Banks, Karla Chubb (of SPRINTS), Pip Blom and of course, Makeshift Art Bar. I first discovered the latter Northern Irish band on 6Music via standout post-punk single 'Bedwetter', so I was excited to learn the two acts had joined forces. Mount Palomar caught their set at Borderline Festival in Dublin and thought they could make something unique together, the rest was then history. The band's aforementioned post-punk sound collides with Mount Palomar's pounding techno beats to create a truly thrilling and intense team-up, masterfully building tension throughout. The lyrics are inspired by the heightened emotions of a post-breakup fallout. I am dumbfounded that this music video has less than 2000 views as it deserves far more! Bring on the accompanying EP Feeding Frenzy, out next month. Zara Larsson wasn't the only artist channelling the 2000s in this section, as PinkPantheress arrived with plentiful throwbacks, in delightful sample-heavy mixtape Fancy That. She may have lifted the strings of lead single 'Tonight' from American act Panic! At The Disco's 'Do You Know What I'm Seeing?', but her sound still feels quintessentially British, flipping that sample on its head. The throbbing four-to-the-floor bassline is reminiscent of 'Back-of-the-bus-Bluetooth-banger' music. That infectious club sound accompanies PinkPantheress' charming, playful delivery. She is in control here and is cheekily flirting with a shy crush. The music video is a visual feast, with period drama costumes and settings, much like Bridgerton - mixed with a more modern TikTok-ready dance routine. PinkPantheress also claims to be inspired by the music video for Jamiroquai's 'King for a Day'. The British public decided to have taste and made 'Tonight' a top 40 hit last year, sneaking in at #35. Nilüfer Yanya experiences a double whammy in this section as 'Cold Heart' was a big hit in my personal chart last year, reaching #4. This song immediately tugs on the heart strings before she even utters a single word, as the guitar line is pretty melancholic. Nilüfer provides a haunting vocal delivery as she reflects on a relationship with a girl, who has the titular cold heart. She begins with the imagery of a "winter sun", a far cry from Zara's more upbeat use of the giant star earlier. It seems this frosty relationship never fully delivered, as she uses uncertain language like "almost all brand new" and "I guess you had a cold heart". The production is as rich and fluid as ever from her, with the aforementioned guitar also meeting synths and uptempo drums. There is a beautiful instrumental break towards the end as well, with sweeping strings. The pelican visualiser of course gives this brownie points too. This section concludes with a repeat song from my 2024 countdown that experienced a lengthy enough weekly run to make it in for another year. 'The Silence That Remains' by The Horrors finished at an impressive #13 in last year's countdown, despite being released pretty late in the year. This time it has satisfyingly managed to flip those numbers around, placing at #31, just ahead of Nilüfer Yanya on a tiebreak due to its #1 status in my weekly chart. I won't repeat my previous commentary on this favourite but can now add that accompanying album Night Life was later released in March 2025. Aside from the aforementioned 'Lotus Eater' and 'The Silence That Remains', both in the countdown this year, my other biggest highlights were 'Silent Sister' and 'LA Runaway' <3

Hi Pete, glad you enjoyed the music! Thank you for commenting

If it wasn't clear the first part of my post was referring to Milky - 'Just the Way You Are', brought up by WhoOdyssey - that isn't in the show as well as t.A.T.u, is it? Alternatively people clicked on the wrong 'Just the Way You Are' instead of Bruno

Yeah perhaps just a random TikTok thing, a quick search of the sound brought up a video from 6 days ago with about 200k likes, so maybe slowly spreading Early '00s nostalgia rising up again then with t.A.T.u and Milky

Bruno Mars on Spotify today: 14 I Just Might (+1) 31 Locked out of Heaven (+22) 47 That's What I Like (+19) 54 Die With A Smile (+3) 61 Grenade (+72) 68 Just the Way You Are (+55) 80 APT. (-10) 96 Marry You 108 When I Was Your Man (+39) 187 24K Magic 197 Talking to the Moon

Oops just realised I wasn't quite right about voting for the whole top 10, as Leona didn't make my points, but wasn't far off. Yay my top 2 is the same as the results *.* and 'Fairytale of New York' is my favourite explicitly festive song, so I'm pleased that's on the podium too.

Well done for that full house on Friday, Chris! today's game: Round 1: 33 (didn't get: The Stylistics, The Nolans) Round 2: 27 (didn't get: ELO - got the artist but not the title, The Christians) 3-in-10: 3 (December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night), Sherry, Grease)

I didn't vote for Christina last time but did so in this round!

I have sent something in now.

Captain Sensible - Happy Talk The Clash - Rock The Casbah A Flock Of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song The Steve Miller Band - Abracadabra Yazoo - Don't Go

Zara's impact! That Sean Paul throwback from the Step Up soundtrack seems to have good momentum, it has climbed a lot the past couple of days: 99. Sean Paul, Keyshia Cole - (When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me (+43)

Zara's trio have all climbed on Spotify today: 08 Lush Life (+1) 56 Stateside (+1) 76 Midnight Sun (+18) ☀️☀️☀️

Happy to see 'I Believe In You' in the top 5! The other Greatest Hits single 'Giving You Up' feels quite forgotten but I really liked that too, this period was a good quality stop-gap for her.

Orson's 'No Tomorrow' famously had the lowest weekly #1 sales ever, with 17,694 copies, but increased to 19,181 the following week despite dropping to #3.